Riding Lessons [3; Big Sky Country. Dick Mulligan x MC]

THREE

Riding a bronc bareback is nothing like riding a bull. She tries to see over the heads of the buckle bunnies, but they’re all jumping up and down in front of the barrier, breasts bobbling as they squeal Dick’s name. He moves back and forth on Rocky Top’s back, showing off for the roaring crowd and the judges.

“How long is he supposed to stay on, to win the pot?” Juniper has to shout to be heard over the high-pitched squeals. “I heard the odds are pretty good for him to win?”

One of the buckle bunnies turns around. She has bleach blonde hair teased nearly as high as Juniper’s hat. “You talkin’ ’bout Mulligan, honey? That big ol’ bull? I gave him the ride of his life back in Missoula in ’08. When he wins this time, I’m gonna show him how they ride in Sweetridge, too.” Her eyes flick up and down Juniper’s outfit dismissively. “You better git in line, honey.” She nods her chin at the other buckle bunnies. “We was here first.”

Juniper grits her teeth. As if she’s that desperate to ride some rodeo cowboy in East Bumblefuck, Nowhere! Yet the traitorous thought of his mouth where his fingers had been makes her clench her thighs together, a soft, aching heat pulsing between her legs at the memory. That big ol’ bull… Missoula. The thought slams Juniper back into reality. Missoula… That’s where Ellie Anne is. Six notes, I’ll sing them by your window. Three high, and three low. Don’t forget, little chick.

“Dick Mulligan, with eight seconds and 89 points!” The announcer booms, and the crowd cheers. Dick leaps off Rocky Top’s back, grandstanding for the crowd. As soon as he strolls back to the corral, the buckle bunnies swarm him, begging to have their breasts autographed with black marker, but Dick’s big grin finds Juniper first, and she’s so sure that lazy wink is all for her, that she puts an extra swing into her step as she tries to pretend she’s not impressed. He tips his hat at her and she feels a golden rush of warmth tingle all the way down to her toes. And then he’s swaggering toward her, but before he can get close, Juniper hears it.

“And now, presenting Juniper Rainbow-Raven Willow, riding for Oakley Ranch!’

Her number is up.

•••

“You sure you gonna be okay, Juniper?” Asha is distracted, but then, so is Juniper. Up close, the bronc is much bigger than she expected, and when she runs her hand down his back, he tosses his head, rolling the whites of his eyes in warning. “You know what you’re doin’, sorry, I forgot – that big ol’ bastard taught ya how to ride.” Asha looks as though she’s sucked on a lemon, and she looks down at her clipboard, then away. “Well, when you get thrown off, don’t say I didn’t warn ya.” She isn’t talking about broncs and bulls, and when she points at Dick, bleach blonde hanging on his arm, he raises his chin to Juniper, as though in challenge.

I’m not some buckle bunny, cowboy. Her fingers clench on the horse’s mane, and when she looks up again, Dick is talking to a man whose face she can’t quite see, a man who’s out of place, a city slicker… Juniper’s palms begin to sweat, and she ducks her head down, trying to breathe, but she can’t.

Before she knows what she’s doing, she’s grabbed the block and blindly reaches out for the next horse she sees, not Sawyer’s Dolly, no, this one is a big black gelding ominously named Hellfire. She marks the horse out like she saw the other riders do, and grabs the rigging behind her. The chute opens, and she and Hellfire burst out into the arena.

The roar of the crowd assaults her eardrums, but the noise goes blank, mute, when Hellfire begins to buck. Juniper sucks in a series of rapid, shallow breaths, trying to keep her boots in position, but they are too tight, and her palms are too sweaty. Only eight seconds, she coaxes her brain. You can do this, girl… Do it for Ellie Anne.

But then she looks up, and she sees him.

Dave Reyes.

Back against the wall of the arena, scanning the crowd, fingering something in his pocket.

Looking for me.

Juniper feels her vision collapse into a single pinprick of light, and then there is the dreadful, harrowing sensation of the rigging slipping through her fingers.

“Goldilocks!” She hears Dick bellow, but it’s too late: one minute, she’s scrabbling for the rigging, the next, she’s lying in the dust of the arena, all the breath knocked out of her.

The crowd seems to inhale all at once, and then the screams begin.

There’s a ringing in her ears, and she hears Dick shouting her name. When she turns her head, he’s crouching in the dust beside her, his hand on her cheek. His face is pale as milk, and his mouth moves, but she can’t hear a word he’s saying.

Suddenly, Sawyer shoves him out of the way, and then the two men are grappling in the dust. Someone blows a whistle, but they don’t stop, not until they’re pulled apart by security. She hears about that after, sitting back in the barn with an EMT and Asha begging her to go to the hospital.

You don’t understand. My name isn’t Juniper Rainbow-Raven Willow. She’s buried in the boneyard by the river, in the shadow of the blue mountains. But the traitorous words burn her tongue, and she swallows them whole. “I’m fine. Just a little bruised up. It’s my pride that hurts more than anything.” Never mind that her ribs are aching, that her chest feels like it’s on fire with each breath. She laughs, but it comes out hollow. 

“Juniper!” Juliette runs up to them, Curly trailing behind her, and throws her arms around Juniper’s shoulders. “God, you scared the hell out of us!” 

“Don’t ever do that again!” Curly’s bear hug makes her wince in pain, and he sets her down, apology written all over his face. “What were you thinking?” 

“I guess I’m not wanted here,” Asha says crisply, but her voice is full of tears. She walks stiffly out of the barn, and minutes later Juniper hears Cliff and Duke’s voices, raised, and Asha’s sobbing. For a moment, Juniper feels bad, and wants to go after her, but that will create unneeded complications. The urge to run is stronger than ever, but – These people are makin’ me soft. 

Juliette opens her mouth to speak, and then closes it when Dick saunters into the barn. He’s trying to appear casual, but once he sees Juniper sitting on the crate, his expression turns from one of studied disinterest to one of pure relief. In the next moment, he’s got his arms around her, and she rests her cheek against his chest for a moment before pulling back and slapping him. Juliette and Curly are staring at the two of them, open-mouthed, but neither Dick nor Juniper notices their captive audience, attention trained entirely on each other. 

“What the hell was that for?!” Dick rumbles gruffly, rubbing his cheek.

“That’s fer teachin’ me how to ride a bull and not a bronc!” Her latent Southern drawl is liquid and loose, thick as molasses, but Juniper doesn’t notice. “I coulda broke mah neck, you — you damn Yankee bastard!” 

Dick’s expression turns to thunder. He growls, tone full of dark menace, “They let you git on a damn wild bronc!” 

Juniper slaps him in the chest, and before she knows it, she’s crying. “You! Knew! It! Was! A — Mmph!” she gasps as Dick’s mouth descends on hers, his mustache tickling her lips, and he’s kissing her, hot and sweet, lips brushing gently against hers, tongue demanding an answer. And Juniper gives it to him, melting against his broad chest, opening her mouth with a yielding sigh, her tongue meeting his in a dance as old and primal as time itself. He tastes of sweat and dust, and she thinks she’s out of her mind, she must be, because she’s never tasted anything sweeter, anything more dangerous than this. 

“Get off of her!” Sawyer hauls Dick back, and decks him in the face. The two men square off, and the fists go flying. Curly wades in, trying to stop them, getting a fist in the nose for his troubles, and then Duke and Cliff rush into the barn but stop short. They simply watch, arms crossed, faces hard, as Sawyer and Dick circle one another with their fists up.

Juliette pulls Juniper to the side. “I don’t know what that was, but I’ve never seen a man vault the barrier as fast as Dick Mulligan when that bronc threw you. Sawyer couldn’t move as fast with that messed up ankle of his, but he tried to reach you before Mulligan did, I swear.”

“What is going on in here?! Stop it right now before I have to call security again!” Asha shouts, storming back in and waving her arms.

“They ain’t gonna stop for nothin’,” Curly says in a muffled voice, his nose pinched under a red bandanna. “I wouldn’t try to wade in there, Ms Roanhorse.” 

“Leave him alone!” Juniper finds her voice, and both men turn to stare at her. “It isn’t his fault I got hurt,” she says, addressing the Oakley men. “I didn’t know how to ride. I grabbed the wrong horse. It’s my fault, okay?” 

“Juniper –” Sawyer starts, but she holds up a hand. “He was kissing you and you were crying,” he says, stepping forward, his voice hoarse. “I thought…” he swallows, and looks away. The obvious longing in his voice says everything, and Cliff coughs loudly, looking embarrassed for his son.  

Juliette rushes forward, wrapping her arms around Sawyer, but he pushes her away, grabbing his makeshift crutch and hobbling out of the barn. “Shit,” she says, tears in her voice, and then rushes out after him. 

“Well!” Asha crosses her arms, glaring at Dick and Juniper. “Mind tellin’ me what all that was about?” 

“Ain’t it obvious?” Dick sneers. He steps forward, getting right up in Asha’s face. “You put that girl on a wild bronc and she almost got her damn self killed!” 

“It was an accident, I swear!” She is still trying to defend herself when Juliette returns to hustle Juniper from the barn. 

“I honestly don’t think she meant to do that,” Juliette whispers. “I think she was distracted by everyone an’ everything. Asha takes too much on herself sometimes, I think, and I can tell she cares about you. We all do.” She slips her arm through Juniper’s, pulling her behind the midway. Sawyer is leaning against a lodgepole pine, watching the sunset. Dallas is beside him. Neither man says anything, but Juniper can tell they know she’s there. Dallas nods to her, reaching out for her hand to give it a quick squeeze, and then he and Juliette melt away, leaving her alone with Sawyer. 

He doesn’t say anything, but he moves over, making room for her. When joins him, Sawyer looks at down at her, his eyes red, like he’s been crying. “Hey.” 

Juniper wraps her arms around Sawyer, and he sags against her, his arms around her waist. Never feel sorry for your mark, her mama’s voice chides her, as if that woman ever took her own advice. Carnival to carnival, man to man, one damn mistake after another. Until the last one… And then it was Maybelle who made the mistake, and Maybelle who paid the price. But that girl is no more, she’s laid to rest. Maybelle became Wren, she vanished into the commune, she dissolved into thin air. And now… 

“Juniper, I thought he was hurting you,” Sawyer whispers, and her heart twinges for this man before her, this honest man she’s tricked and taken for a ride. 

“I can take care of myself, Sawyer.” Juniper draws back, touching his cheek, instantly regretting her mistake when he turns his head, lips ghosting across her wrist in a gentle kiss. She drops her hand like he’s burned her, putting some space between them, and Sawyer winces, taking off his hat and running a hand through his dark gold hair. 

“I know you can, June. I was just worried. You don’t know that slimy sunuvabitch like I do.” Sawyer clears his throat. “He’s a bad person.”

So am I. Juniper doesn’t acknowledge Sawyer’s assassination of Dick’s character, though she knows it’s not true. “I’m gonna stay in town tonight, at the hotel. Gotta go with the dawn.” Better to rip the band-aid off in one go, and with Reyes hot on her trail, she’s gotta make tracks if she wants to get Ellie Anne, without all her lies laid bare for the world to see. 

Sawyer gives a start at that. “The hotel? You don’t mean…” 

“Yeah, I think I’ve overstayed my welcome. You can leave my stuff on the porch, I’ll grab it in the morning.” She won’t, but he doesn’t need to know that. The faster she goes, the better. No regrets. She has all the important things on her person anyway. “It was nice to know ya, Sawyer Oakley.” 

“Juniper…” Sawyer’s mouth works, like he’s going to say something he’ll regret come morning, but she lays a finger against his lips. 

“It’s never goodbye.” She stands on tiptoe, brushing her lips against his cheek. “Perhaps we’ll meet again someday. Until then…” but she doesn’t say it, just walks backwards, until she is swallowed up by the tall summer grass and turns, walking towards the night. 

•••

She’s been walking down the hot asphalt, due North, for what feels like an eternity when a beat up red pickup truck roars up beside her, pulling over and revving the engine as it idles. 

Dick Mulligan steps out of the cab, looking Juniper up and down with his brows raised. Her traitorous heart skips a beat when he gives her a devilish grin. “Well, well, well. If it ain’t the hottest li’l bull rider between here and Billings. You look like you was rode hard and put away wet, Goldilocks. I think you need some more ridin’ lessons tonight.” He pats the cab of the truck. “Besides, ain’t no one ever told ya it’s rude to leave without sayin’ goodbye?”